2025

February 24, 2025

WCU Assistant Professor’s Innovative Book on Black Epistemology Coming This Summer 

West Chester University Assistant Professor of Philosophy Dr. Adebayo Oluwayomi is set to release his much-anticipated book, Foundations of Black Epistemology: Knowledge Discourse in Africana Philosophy, this July.

His pioneering work establishes Black epistemology as a distinct sub-discipline within Africana philosophy, tracing its historical roots and exploring the critical role of knowledge in Black intellectual traditions. Epistemology is the study of knowledge, its nature, sources, and limitations. 

Drawing from Black thinkers — like Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. DuBois, Frantz Fanon, Steve Bantu Biko, Huey P. Newton, and Kathleen Neal Cleaver — Dr. Oluwayomi examines the intersections of self-knowledge, Black consciousness, anticolonialism, and personal and political epistemologies. His research sheds light on how Black intellectuals have historically interrogated the nature of knowledge, agency, and liberation.

“For decades, Black philosophers have argued that their lived experiences, histories, and scientific observations offer substantial evidence of a different, if not altogether unique, epistemological tradition,” said Professor Tommy J. Curry, a philosophy professor at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. “Adebayo Oluwayomi’s Foundations of Black Epistemology has proved it. His work should be celebrated for having the courage to challenge the deliberate misrepresentation of Black knowledge production within the discipline of philosophy throughout American universities, and the patience to document the Black epistemology traditions demonstrating how Black people have understood and produced theories of knowledge to reflect the realities they have laid claim to for centuries.”

Dr. Oluwayomi’s journey to writing this book began with a fundamental question: Where are Black voices in epistemology? Despite epistemology being a critical branch of philosophy, he found that Black thinkers were frequently omitted from mainstream discussions. His extensive research uncovered a wealth of contributions from Black scholars and philosophers that had been largely ignored from the discourse of knowledge.  

Dr. Oluwayomi wants his book to teach readers to think for themselves, something he also tries to impart on his students. 

“Knowledge brings liberation,” Oluwayomi said. “If we teach students to think critically, they will be empowered. They will distinguish truth from ideology—not through indoctrination, but through intellectual freedom. My hope is that everyone who reads this book will dare to be free in their minds.” 

One of the book’s most significant revelations is the critical role of Black women in shaping epistemology. Through archival research, Oluwayomi discovered that Ida B. Wells was the first to develop an empiricist model of epistemology—using data and investigative journalism to document racial violence and injustice. His work challenges conventional narratives that attribute such methods solely to W.E.B. DuBois.  

With rigorous analysis and groundbreaking discoveries, Oluwayomi’s book is poised to spark new debates and expand the boundaries of epistemological inquiry.  

Foundations of Black Epistemology: Knowledge Discourse in Africana Philosophy, published by Temple University Press, will be available in Summer 2025.  

About the Author  

Adebayo Oluwayomi is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at West Chester University. His research focuses on Africana philosophy, Social epistemology, Black Male Studies, and Black Radical Philosophy.